


Definitely Not a Game

by WonderWoman27



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Internalized Homophobia, Married Life, Multi, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-28 22:10:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20071405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderWoman27/pseuds/WonderWoman27
Summary: Meet Rain, an introspective agriculturalist with a painful past, and Alex, a defensive and previously abused person who definitely only has pictures of almost naked musclar men on his wall for inspirational purposes. What could go wrong?





	1. The Escapists

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I do not have any ownership of these characters, all credit to ConcernedApe. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to improve this, I would seriously love some feedback!

They weren’t sure what it was about this particular day. Sure, it was an overall gloomy, miserable winter day in an overpopulated and pollution ridden city, but it wasn’t any worse than the day before, and it probably wasn’t any worse than the day after. Regardless, something in Rain snapped that gloomy, miserable Wednesday in the middle of winter. Maybe it was the low hum of electronics constantly in the background, or the fact that Rain’s near coworker had recently passed and had been working at the same desk for 50 years, so much so that Rain could almost see his skeleton resting in his cubicle. Or maybe it was that they couldn’t handle one more sneer or passive aggressive comment concerning Rain’s identity. It was none of those things. It was all of those things. It all hit Rain all at once and suddenly they couldn’t breathe, the weight of being a meaningless cog in a destructive machine unbearable. Then, they remembered a sweet smile, and a loving grandparent: 

“... and for my very special grandchild: I want you to have this sealed envelope. No, no, don’t open it yet… have patience. Now, listen close… There will come a day when you feel crushed by the burden of modern life… and your bright spirit will fade before a growing emptiness. When that happens, my child, you’ll be ready for this gift. Now, let Grandpa rest…”

Rain quickly opened the drawer on their right and carefully opened the letter. Suddenly, it all became so clear. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Rain, 

If you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.  
The same thing happened to me, long ago. I’d lost sight of what mattered most in life… real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong. 

I’ve enclosed the deed to that place… my pride and joy: Rainbow Hill Farm. It’s located in Stardew Valley on the southern coast. It’s the perfect place to start your new life. 

This was my most precious gift of all, and now it’s yours. I know you’ll honor the family name, my precious child. Good luck.

Love, Grandpa  
~~

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Rain was choosing which college to go to, it was incredibly simple. Of course, Rain would go to the school that looked more like a prison whose LGBTQ+ group had to meet in a tiny basement room because “everywhere else was booked up,” that was just down the street. Grandpa tried to convince them otherwise, but Rain was firm in their decision. It was, after all, the cheapest place to get a degree in the city, and Grandpa refused to let Rain get a job while going through school. The hardest choice about their academic career was selecting a degree. While Rain was generally academically inclined, and could have been admitted for virtually any of the programs offered (except for physical education-caused by a lack of gym credits), but really gravitated towards the Environmental field. At first, Rain was nervous to tell Grandpa their decision, but of course, Grandpa was fully supportive and gave Rain a secret smile that they would not discover the meaning of until six long painful years later. Grandpa held on until Rain graduated, but they had to learn how to live without Grandpa fairly soon after that. Then, what was the use for an environmental degree in the big city? Distraught with grief, Rain was grateful to be hired at JoJo Inc. This gratitude was short lived. 

Now, sitting on a bus that should, by the sound it is emitting, not be running, Rain is eternally grateful for their Environmental studies degree. While they hadn’t focused on agriculture, in the past two weeks Rain had been pouring religiously over several almanacs and textbooks on farm and crop management. This meant Rain was slightly more prepared than not prepared at all for the next chapter of their life. 

As the bus pulled into its Pelican Town station, Rain sent a quick thank you to Yoba for the miraculous arrival, and not a moment too soon, for the bus promptly broke down in its parking spot. Incredulous, Rain stood, gathered their meager belongings and exited to a beautiful bus stop, lined with cherry blossom trees. The smell was sweet and fresh and Rain was already more home than they ever found themself in the city. Suddenly, Rain was aware that a person was waiting to greet them. They had beautiful red hair, and looked to be a friendly face. 

“Hello! You must be Rain. I’m Robin the local carpenter. Mayor Lewis sent me here to fetch you and show you the way to your new home. He’s there right now, tidying things up for your arrival. The farm’s right over here, if you’ll follow me.” They said in a sunny tone. Rain couldn’t believe their luck at Grandpa owning land in such a wonderful place. 

“Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I am so excited to see the piece of land Grandpa used to farm.” And Rain truly was. They were especially happy to learn about an undiscovered chapter of Grandpa’s life. 

“My preferred pronouns are she and her, by the way.” Robin smiled. Perfect.

“And mine are they and them.” Rain smiled back. Maybe not all small towns are the same. They set out together towards the farm, which was really only a short distance down the path, maybe two-hundred feet while making light conversation about Stardew Valley.

“Do you have any advice for a new resident of Stardew Valley?” Rain was genuinely interested. While they didn’t think that Grandpa would send them to an unsafe place, and they were never truly safe in the city, one could never be too careful.

“Let’s see. Most of the people around here are friendly enough, though you might have some trouble with the older folks in Pelican Town,” Robin glanced meaningfully into Rain’s eyes. Ah. “And we did have a rockslide recently, so you may want to watch out for that.” 

“Wow. Thanks for the warning.” Rain had no idea that there was danger of earthquakes around here. 

The two entered a frankly disastrously maintained field. Rain hadn’t thought this would be easy, but they hadn’t expected this. Rocks, fallen branches, wild grasses and bushes and dozens of trees cluttered the lot so much so that there was barely room to get from the path to the front door of dilapidated house. Well. This was more luxurious than any other property that Rain had ever owned (Rain hadn’t owned any property before). 

“This is Rainbow Hill Farm.” Robin had a sympathetic look on her face. Now that they were truly here, Rain began to feel panic well up. Rain had never been afraid of hard work, but this was quite overwhelming. A voice in the back of their head, that sounded uncannily like their mother’s, whispered demeaning thoughts about Rain’s capabilities. Rain pinched themself. 

“What’s the matter? Sure, it’s a bit overgrown, but there’s some good soil underneath that mess!” Robin said in a calming tone. Rain was sure that there was good soil underneath the unkempt forest too, but that didn’t make them feel much better. Well, it’s the thought that counts Rain supposes. 

“With a little dedication you’ll have it cleaned up in no time.” Robin continued. This was one nice person. Rain smiled.

“Thank you.” They put as much of the gratitude that they were feeling into that reply as possible. The duo approached the farmhouse (if one could call it that), carefully as they avoided tripping hazards.

“... And here we are, your new home.” There was only a bit of a sarcastic tone in Robin’s comment, which Rain could easily forgive given the mess of a building in front of them. At least the firewood was stocked up. Rain was startled by an older person bursting out of the door with a clang, and made a shrill sound of alarm. 

“Ah, the new farmer!” The person boomed. They looked straight out of a British soap opera, with the newsboy cap, suspenders and everything. They came down the steps and approached Rain, saying in a much quieter voice, “Welcome! I’m Lewis, Mayor of Pelican Town.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rain, and my pronouns are they and them. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name. Grandpa mentioned you frequently, especially in his final months.” Rain smiled (grimaced) and tried to prepare for the worst. This man was, although Grandpa’s friend, extremely old. Robin’s warning had not yet left Rain’s thoughts. 

“You know, everyone’s been asking about you. It’s not everyday that someone new moves in. It’s quite a big deal! And I was looking forward to meeting my dear friend’s grandchild. He talked about you a lot in his letters, you know. He was very proud.” Lewis’s smile crinkled almost his entire face for all his wrinkles. Rain was so relieved and touched by Lewis’s words that tears sprung to their eyes. Rain returned a somewhat watery smile. Lewis turned back to the house. 

“So… You’re moving into your grandfather’s old cottage. It’s a good house… very ‘rustic’.” Even Lewis himself looked doubtful as he said it. Rain giggled. Robin joined in on the laughter. 

“Rustic? That’s one way to put it… ‘Crusty’ might be a little more apt, though.” She chuckled. Lewis didn’t find that quite as amusing. Even though Rain themself was smiling along with Robin, he looked genuinely upset at her comment. 

“Don’t listen to her, Rain. She’s just trying to make you dissatisfied so that you buy one of her house upgrades,” Lewis said with an annoyed look on his face. Rain wasn’t sure if it was because it was his dear friend’s old abode or if Lewis was scared that Robin might scare Rain off, but his disgruntledness was very funny. Rain didn’t want to embarrass Lewis though, so they tried to project a solemn look of ‘I’m-totally-not-finding-this-funny-right-now.” From the way Robin blanched, the expression may have worked too well. 

“Anyway… You must be tired from the long journey. You should get some rest. Tomorrow you ought to explore the town a bit and introduce yourself. The townspeople would appreciate that.” Thoroughly satisfied that his chastisement was successful, Lewis’s smile wrinkles were back on display in full force. Saying quick goodbyes, Lewis carefully picked his way back towards the path, in what Rain assumed was the direction of Pelican Town. 

Before leaving the property though, Lewis stopped and turned to explain, “Oh, I almost forgot. If you have anything to sell, just place it in this box here. I’ll come by during the night to collect it. Well… Good luck!” 

With Lewis gone, Rain was feeling the anxiety they had felt later begin to creep back in, especially when Robin followed and left with no goodbye. Maybe Rain had inadvertently upset their first friend. With all the excitement (and the long bus ride to get to Stardew Valley) Rain was left exhausted. So, Rain entered the small cabin and practically fell asleep immediately on the cramped bed. 

Upon waking the next morning, Rain had slight confusion, as it was not the sound of screaming and car horns to wake them, but the sound of a rooster off in the distance. Rain was struck by the amazing horribleness of their situation. It was the first Monday of spring, and Rain did not have to drag themself to work in that corporate monstrosity, and had a brand new start at life. Unfortunately that start in life consisted of 500 g (which wasn’t enough to purchase 7 Joja Colas), a few changes of clothes, a one room cabin, and a forest to start farming. 

After they finished rubbing the sleep from their eyes and making the bed, Rain noticed a wrapped package sitting on the floor in front of the T.V. As Rain made their way over to this mysterious package, they made a mental not to introduce themself to the other townspeople. Rain thought it would be a nice gesture to introduce themself around town, and a way to gauge where people stood on queerness. 

Rain noted the message “Here’s a little something to get you started --Mayor Lewis” on the package, and opened it to find fifteen parsnip seeds, which could be just the thing to jumpstart their farming venture. Rain would also have to thank Mayor Lewis for this kindness. 

~~~

After unpacking their few outfits, fiddling around with the T.V. and taking stock of the available channels (which included a very campy cooking show, a local guide channel, and a creepily accurate oracle show), and eating the very last granola bar they had unpacked, Rain gathered up their seeds and headed outside. Thankfully, Rain was able to find Grandpa’s old tools. They were all fairly old and rusty but usable. Rain began clearing out the field in front of the cabin with the scythe, and when all the grass was gone, harvesting usable fallen branches and chipping away at rocks to even the ground.

Unsurprisingly, Robin’s assessment was correct. After beginning to hoe the ground, Rain could easily tell that the ground was fertile. Sending a quick prayer to Yoba, Rain planted their seeds and watered them thoroughly. Hopefully, this crop would be fruitful (vegetableful for parsnips?), or else Rain’s comfortable layer of chubbiness will very painfully go away. Thanks to Rain’s Indian Heritage, they weren’t getting sunburnt, so that was a plus. 

Tired, sweaty, and overall feeling gross, Rain took a quick jump into the pond that was a few dozen feet from the house. It was very refreshing, and just what Rain needed before meeting a bunch more people. Reapplying some chapstick, and hoping that their hair dried before any introductions, Rain began the short trek into town. 

The quaint little town was beautiful, with slightly worn but gorgeous stone walkways and classic looking houses. Unfortunately, nobody was in the immediate courtyard, but Rain was immediately drawn to the little general store named “Pierre’s.”

The store itself was bright and airy, filled with fresh produce and excitement. It was quite a welcome respite from the massive Jojamarts Rain was so used to. 

“Welcome to Pierre’s! Need some supplies?” Pierre (Rain assumed) exclaimed, clearly eager to have a new customer. Another person was browsing quietly, and Rain was immediately drawn to their calming energy. Smiling at Pierre, Rain made their way up to the register to have an appropriate amount of small talk. 

“Yes, actually. I’m the farmer who just moved in down the road. I suppose I’ll be spending lots of time here in the future.” Rain assured. Pierre’s (Rain is still assuming) lit up, and they replied, “So you’re the grandchild that Lewis Mentioned, the new farmer! I’m Pierre, owner of this wonderful general store. If you’re looking for seeds, my shop is the place to go. I’ll also buy produce from you for a fair price, as I’m always looking for additional local providers. A little agriculture could really inject new life into the local economy!” Pierre could really talk, Rain noted. Time for a speedy exit. 

“Could I take a look at some of those seeds?” Rain inquired. Beaming, Pierre showed off their collection, and Rain ooed and awed at all the appropriate moments. They ended up purchasing five bean starter kits, as those keep producing throughout the season, but that ate up more than half of Rain’s already meager funds. Waving goodbye, Rain made their way over to the other customer who was still browsing. They saw Rain approaching and grinned. 

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Leah, and my preferred pronouns are she and her,” Leah smiled brightly at Rain.  
“It’s nice to meet you too. My name is Rain, and my preferred pronouns are they and them. I love your hair! Are you related to Robin?” Rain asked, as the two really did look alike. 

Leah laughed goodnaturedly and replied, “No, we aren’t, though we do get that a lot. You picked a good time to move here… The spring is lovely.” Rain agreed enthusiastically. 

“What do yo do around here Leah?” Rain inquired. 

“Actually,” Leah said with a blush, “I’m an artist. I mostly focus on nature based art, especially since their is so much inspiration for it in these parts. I live in the forest south of Rainbow Hill, I’d love to show you some of my work sometime!” 

“That is so cool! I love art, and tried to get to visit galleries in the city whenever possible, but I don’t have an artistically talented bone in my body, so I may not be the most informed viewer, but I would love to see your work!” Rain was so relieved at meeting someone around their age who they could relate to in this town. Mayor Lewis and Robin were very kind, but they were over triple and double Rain’s age, respectively. 

Heading back home after saying their goodbyes, Rain was already exhausted at mid afternoon. Rain planted their newly acquired bean seeds, watered them, and managed to forage some wild leeks and horseradish. Not the weirdest meal Rain had eaten, by a long shot. Rain escaped from the beating sun to the cabin, and laid down to rest, but quickly fell into a deep sleep, not to wake up until dawn the next morning. Rain’s last thoughts before sleep took them was that they had finally, finally escaped that life, and there was no going back now.


	2. Life is Strange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet beautiful Linus whom none of us deserve and we have another encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, there is a bit of ignoring pronoun preferences in this chapter. Feedback is always appreciated, hope you enjoy!

The next few days followed in much the same pattern. Rain woke up, tended to the crops, wandered around and familiarized themself with the town, met a few folks and fell into a deep sleep around five o’clock. Their meals mostly consisted of foraged foods, which were thankfully abundant in the valley. Rain learned many things over the course of this week, and had many eventful encounters. 

Pierre’s wife, Caroline was kind but aloof, Elliott was a recluse writer that lived in a tiny house on the beach, Harvey was slightly weird and ran the clinic, Sam was an aspiring musician and sort of stuck his teenage years, Sebastian was a fun emo gamer who Rain found themself slightly interested in, Shane was a depressed alcoholic, Pam was an upbeat alcoholic, Abigail was rebelling, Emily was a pushover, Clint was weirdly obsessed with Emily, Maru and Penny were gorgeous and kind and Rain could totally see them together, Demetrius was doing interesting research that may help Rain’s future farming, Gus was boisterous and fun and ran the bar, Jas and Vincent were fine as kids go, Jodi was underappreciated with Kent as her absent husband, Marnie would be an amazing resource for any future work with animals, Gunther loved artifacts, and Willy gave Rain his old fishing pole after returning from a long journey which was very kind of him. 

Rain was also devastated to learn that not even Pelican Town was free from the clutches of Jojamart, and Morris was one of the worst people Rain had ever met for supporting that corporate greed as the local store manager (Rain was purposely forgetting what their previous job was). 

However, there were a few others whom Rain had yet to meet, so after the daily chores were finished, Rain set out to meet these elusive few. First, Rain came across Linus, who was tending to his fire and cooking some freshly caught fish. Rain hurried home and brought back some parsnips they had saved from the first harvest, and knowing that Linus would not just accept them, asked if they could join Linus for lunch. The look of surprise that came over Linus’s face when given this tiny bit of kindness broke Rain’s heart, and Rain was not shocked at all when the two of them got around great.

“You know,” Rain said after a few minutes of them eating and chatting, “I have a bit of extra room in the farmhouse if you wouldn’t mind staying with me.” Even though Rain knew that this wasn’t entirely accurate, and that Linus would probably refuse, they were extremely hopeful. Linus looked away, embarrassed, and Rain’s heart clenched. 

“I have everything I need here.” Linus’s eyes had hardened and his face had closed off once again. Rain sighed in disappointment. 

“Just know that you’re always welcome, especially when the weather starts to turn. I can remember what it’s like to feel so cold you’re warm, and the way the water seeps into your bones. I just want you to know that you have options.” Rain poured as much assuredness as possible into their smile. Linus’s face betrayed his obvious confusion.

“You’ve not had a home before?” Linus couldn’t believe it, especially with the type of person that Rain’s Grandfather had been. He’d have never let his grandchild suffer, Linus was sure of it.

“Yeah,” Rain didn’t particularly like recounting this part of their history, but they knew that it may lead Linus to trust more, so Rain continued: “When I was fifteen, I came out to my parents as gay. I hadn’t quite put to words the whole non-binary part yet, and I was so confused, but I knew I was not a straight cisperson, so I told them expecting some blowback. Unfortunately, my parents freaked out, and tried to force me to start attending a nearby church that was adamant that Yoba hates queers. We hadn’t been for years, but all of a sudden they were incredibly religious, and when I started to push back, to refuse to back down and go, my mother threw my clothes into a bag and threw me onto the street. A few years back my parents had cut ties with my Grandpa, so I couldn’t contact him and I didn’t have anywhere to go. At first I slept in the known spots for the homeless, but I had some bad experiences with an older man, and knew I wasn’t safe. From then on, I drifted in and out of youth centres, trying to get a job and failing, until one day I was in such a dark place I was sure that Yoba had cast me out. I was walking along the street in the cold when I randomly ran into Grandpa. He was shocked, I started crying, then he was crying, and he raised me as his child after that. He even put me through college. But I will never forget those months, and I don’t think I could even if I tried…” Rain trailed off. There were tears making tracks down their face, and they could see that Linus was holding some back too. That was a lot to unload on a person, but Rain knew that if anyone could relate to their experiences in Stardew Valley, it was Linus. 

Linus grabbed Rain and awkwardly patted their back, quietly whispering, “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I’m here if you need to talk. I’m sorry I was so standoffish at first, but you just learn not to trust people.” Rain smiled through the tears and hugged Linus back, careful not to damage the homemade clothes. 

“Could I eat supper with you sometimes? You’re much better than me with campfire cooking and I would love the company.” Rain hoped that Linus would say yes. It genuinely was lonely eating by oneself, and Rain really enjoyed Linus. 

“Only if you let me provide the fish.” Linus smiled. 

~~~

High off the success of getting Linus to trust them a bit more, Rain made their way back into town from the mountainous hills, skipping a little as they went. However, this joyous trek was abruptly stopped when Rain spotted an unknown face. And what a face it was. Classically beautiful, with high cheekbones and a strong nose, that face was straight out of primetime T.V. show. However, that beautiful face was marred with a pinched frown, directed towards Rain. Recovering from the uneasy feeling Rain was left with, they smiled brightly and continued towards the (extremely muscular) new acquaintance. 

“Hi there! I’m the farmer that just moved down the road. My name is Rain, and my pronouns are they and them.” Rain injected as much cheerfulness as possible into their introduction, as it seems the two had somehow already gotten off on the wrong foot. 

“Oh, hey. So you're the new guy, huh? Cool. I'm Alex. I'll see you around,” Alex replied tersely. Ouch. That was entirely dismissive and rude. Especially when Rain had been clear with their pronouns. Now Rain was frowning too. Rain didn’t like to judge people based on their looks, and while Alex was very conventionally attractive and fit, he was obviously not the type of person to hang in Rain’s crowd. Who wears their quarterback uniform after highschool? 

Ever the polite person, Rain replied, “Yeah. Hope to see you around,” while silently fuming at the arrogance of this guy. From his tone and demeanor, it really seemed as though he had sized Rain up and decided that they weren’t worth a second glance. Not even Linus had been that prickly. Rain briskly walked to the beach, breathed in and out, and totally, 100% forgot about the jerk of a jock who had ruined their perfectly good mood.


	3. Probability 0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex works with some wood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave some feedback if you are so inclined!

The next few days were filled with a lot of ups, and a lot of downs. Rain really began to befriend Sebastian. They both had similar interests, enjoyed the same video games (Rain couldn’t play at home, but they were invited several times over to Sebastian’s to play), and Rain loved the absolute commitment to the dark aesthetic. Unfortunately, Sebastian was a fairly heavy smoker, and the attraction that Rain had initially felt for Sebastian had morphed into a friendly appreciation (there was absolutely no chance that the mouth-watering body of a complete jerk had anything to do with this waning attraction, zero chance). 

Rain was also eating fairly frequently with Linus, and Rain could honestly say that they had never thought that they might meet someone with as much shared experience. Rain learned that Linus lived in the woods by choice, and although that had not been Rain’s experience, they could understand where Linus was coming from. Sometimes Rain was so done with humanity that they too wished they could pack up and escape it all. Though, Rain was finally getting a handle on the whole farming thing. They were also improving their fishing and foraging skills (so as to not completely starve) and their lumberjack skills. Those were needed, since even though the spring afternoons were getting quite warm, Rain found themself cold under their threadbare blankets without a lit fireplace at night. So, overall, things were looking up. Except for Rain’s inexplicable ability to run into the self-inflated ego that was named Alex. It seemed that at least once a day Rain was ducking to avoid being hit with a gridball in the forehead, or being subject to snarky comments. 

For example, the other day Rain had been walking to the blacksmith to repair their broken hoe, Alex blocked their path, fiddling with that blasted gridball and said, “I'd ask you to throw the ball around, but you don't really seem like the sports type,” which was just plain rude. Then, the next day as Rain was fishing in the river, not bothering a soul, Alex had walked by and tossed over his shoulder, “Did you know I was an all-star quarterback in high school? It's true. See this little star on my jacket here? That proves it.” Rain did see the jacket, and was confused as to why anyone would not only wear it past highschool but also brag about it? The man was at least five years out of highschool, if not more. But the final straw was when Alex commented a few days later, “Hey, what's up farmer guy? Oh, I almost forgot! It's my day for doing push-ups! Every time I do push-ups I try to do one more than last time. Pretty cool strategy, huh?” Not only was Alex pretending to forget Rain’s name (Rain was the talk of the town, which would happen in any place with fewer than thirty residents), he was also intentionally ignoring Rain’s pronouns and fishing for a fucking compliment on top of that? The worst part was that Rain did think that was a good work out strategy, except they would take that to their grave. 

Rain had simply accepted the fact that Alex and them would not be getting along anytime soon, and doubled their efforts at avoiding Alex completely. That was, until Rain spotted sweet old Granny Evelyn struggling to carry home several heavy-looking bags of groceries. Rain hurried to help, asking for permission before picking up all but the lightest looking bag, leaving that to Evelyn so she didn’t think that Rain thought her incapable. She straightened immediately, had a large relieved smile on her face, and patted Rain’s cheek while giving them a soft “Thank you, dearie.” Rain helped the bags home, helped her unpack, and said hello to grumpy George before going about their day. They then slept content that they had made Granny (Evelyn had on their first meeting insisted she be called as such) smile. 

After waking the next morning and eating a field snack that they had made the day before, Rain was startled to hear a knock at the door. Assuming it was Linus, or perhaps Lewis checking in Rain opened the door promptly, only to be startled once again by who was on the other side. It was not Lewis, nor Linus, but instead Rain’s every desire made into a human with an unfortunate personality. 

“Hi,” Alex said, shuffling his feet back and forth nervously. 

“Hello,” Rain replied, confused as to their current predicament, and although polite to the core, unwilling to invite Alex. 

“Granny told me what you did, and, ah, I guess I was just thinking that I could do something to return the favour. I should have been the one to help her, but I didn’t and you did. So, is there something I can do to help out around here?” Alex looked more earnest than ever, and perhaps the least cocky that Rain had ever seen him, and Rain was shocked to realize that Alex was being sincere. Alex didn’t have the social skills to lie that well. So Rain nodded, brain still not fully catching up, and quickly suggested that Alex help them fell a few trees for firewood. Alex smiled, happy to be paying back the supposed favour that he owed Rain, and Rain was struck breathless with his beauty. Shaking their head, Rain pointed out the trees they wanted down, and the two of them got to work. 

Rain, though it did not appear as such, had a fair bit of upper body strength, and usually didn’t have any trouble chopping down the smaller trees. Some of the pines on the farm though had been growing for several decades, and were a bit too much for Rain to handle by themself. As such, they had been meaning to enlist the help of Linus but hadn’t gotten around to it yet, so this was quite the opportunity. They only had Rain’s axe between the two of them, so Rain started chopping one of the trees in their newly learned technique, and was nervous to feel Alex’s eyes on them. Rain tried to explain as they went, so that Alex could learn how to do it, and by the time that tree had fallen Rain was a sweaty, tired mess. Alex took the axe from them and began to swing. At first, Rain watched with a critical eye to Alex’s sloppy technique, and then Rain watched with a critical eye to the flexing of Alex’s back muscles and ass (especially since he’d removed his shirt before he’d started chopping). Rain was also able to catch their breath and drink some fresh well water from their newly installed well. Mostly Rain watched Alex’s muscles. 

When the tree was cut up into much smaller pieces, Alex turned and Rain was caught. Rain felt their face heating up, and saw Alex’s face turn red, and Rain was sure that they were about to be axe murdered. Thankfully, Alex didn’t say a word and just began to carry the logs back to the cabin. Rain breathed out a sigh of relief, and began to cart back the pieces of wood as well. When that was finished, Rain got them both some more refreshing water, and made sure to thank Alex for all his help.

“I really appreciate it! That was too much of a job just for one person, so I really needed the help. But I don’t mind helping out Granny, and you don’t need to do this again. Actually, wait here.” Rain ran back into the cabin before Alex could disagree. Honestly, even with two people it had been a lot more work than Rain had anticipated, and they knew this had in no way been an equal trade-off. Rain collected a bag of fresh beans, added in a few parsnips and potatoes, and brought it back out to Alex. They handed the bag to Alex, smiled stiffly, muttered another thanks and began to walk up the path towards the mountain. 

“Wait!” Alex called. He jogged over to Rain and said, “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been acting like a jerk. What you did for Granny just helped point that out, especially when Granny scolded me about it.” Alex actually looked sheepish. This day was full of surprises. Yes, Alex had been a jerk. Rain wasn’t about to deny it to spare Alex’s feelings, but he had also come over and done a ton of free manual labour, and Rain couldn’t deny that either. 

“I forgive you. Hey, maybe we can toss that gridball of yours around sometime.” Rain smiled at Alex, and he smiled back. They parted ways, but Rain was hopeful with this newly arranged truce, and began to look forward to the upcoming local flower dance.


	4. Crash Dive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rain and Sebastian and Haley and Alex meet at the flower dance. Just who is dancing with who??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Just thought I would provide some visuals on how I envision Alex and Rain looking. Here's a link to a wonderfully drawn Alex by the incredible BASTIAN WOLF, so please check out all of their amazing work:  
https://ibastianwolf.tumblr.com/post/184343327446/every-wednesday-is-fanartwednesday-and-somehow-i  
and almost exactly how I imagine Rain (though I think Rain dyes their hair dark blue-green) can be found by the amazing Needlessly Cryptic here: https://needlesslycryptic.tumblr.com/post/172041243100/commission-of-a-storm-sorcerer-cam

Today was the day of the flower dance. Rain was incredibly excited, and was really looking forward to what would be their first day off since moving. Of course, they still needed to quickly tend to the crops at the crack of dawn, but no other chores would be checked of their list this fine day. The event started at nine and ran until two, and Rain had been so excited that they had splurged on commissioning a beautiful flowing skirt from Emily. She had been ecstatic to make it, and she had done such a wonderful job. The skirt went as far as Rain’s ankles and was done in the same colour as Rain’s hair, a dark blue-green, with a spattering of tiny flowers sprouting all along it. It was perfect! 

Rain finished fixing their hair, applying a liberal amount of eyeliner, buttoning up their crisp white linen shirt and was on their way to the dance. From what Rain had gathered talking to Linus, the party was set up deep in the forest so that the locals could better appreciate the abundance of spring and included a choreographed dance that was done in partners. Even though Rain was looking fine as hell, they were skeptical that they would be able to participate in that aspect of the festivities. No matter! Rain was sure that this was going to be a great time. 

As Rain came across the party setup, they were thoroughly impressed with the brightly coloured streamers and beautiful clearing. Pierre had set up a little booth, and Rain was happy to purchase some strawberry seeds (yum!) for the farm. Rain noticed Linus waving to them, and they happily skipped over to give Linus a big hug. 

“You are so beautiful, Rain!” Linus exclaimed. He had been more and more expressive with Rain over the past few weeks, but still closed off whenever anyone else was around. 

“Awe, thank you Linus! So are you!” Rain smiled brightly. Linus was beautiful, especially when he smiled like he was now, even if he had opted not to change out of his regular clothes like Rain had. 

“Would you be my dancing partner?” Rain implored, even though they knew that this was a long shot. Linus smiled and shook his head. 

“No, Rain. It’s kind of you to ask, but I’m far too old to participate in this thing, much less with a partner as young and beautiful as you! I’d be even more of an outcast.” Rain pouted at his answer, but wouldn’t want to make anyone do anything they weren’t comfortable with, and from his body language and outright refusal, Linus wasn’t comfortable dancing. Rain spotted Alex, who looked objectively stunning, standing next to an almost as equally beautiful person. 

“No worries. I would have loved to dance with you, but it’s totally fine that you don’t want to. I’m going to go say hi to a few other people, but I’ll be back in a bit!” Rain started to head over to Alex and his friend as soon as Linus nodded his understanding. 

As Rain got closer, they waved and smiled at Alex, who smiled and waved back. His friend looked very disinterested though. Alex seemed to take a long lingering look at Rain’s outfit, but that was probably just their imagination. 

“Hey there! I don’t believe we’ve had a chance to meet yet! My name is Rain, and my pronouns are they and them.” Something flashed in the blonde’s eyes that was slightly disconcerting, and Rain had to push down a feeling of dread. 

“Oh… I’m Haley. Hmm… Nice shoes. Are those made out of plastic?” Rain couldn’t keep the hurt noise from leaving their mouth, and without pause Haley continued, “I’m bored. This town is so small. It sucks.” And she then proceeded to complain on a never ending loop. Alex had winced when she’d insulted Rain’s shoes, and looked sheepish and embarrassed about the conversation Haley was having with herself. And there went Rain’s good mood. At least Alex wasn’t particularly enjoying Haley’s company either, and Rain wasn’t alone in their misery. 

Rain started thinking of ways to escape, and the perfect opportunity presented itself when Sebastian entered the clearing with his family. Rain waved and called Sebastian’s name out with relief, desperate for a way out that didn’t seem completely rude. Sebastian seemed wary of their company, but approached Rain nonetheless. 

“Hey, Rain. You look great.” Sebastian was quiet as ever, but his smile reached his eyes as he said this and Rain was grateful for the compliment, especially after encountering and being looked down on by Captain Negative. 

“Thanks! So do you!” Had Rain mentioned how much the mysterious aesthetic did it for them? Sebastian looked wonderful. “So I was just chatting with Alex and Haley about the festival, and I don’t have anyone to dance with. Would you be willing to dance with me?” Rain was seriously hoping that Sebastian would say yes and they could leave to practice the steps. 

“Well, I was going to dance with Abigail, but you’ve never danced in it, so I’m sure she won’t mind sitting out this year.” Now Rain felt guilty. They hadn’t known that someone would have to sit out. Rain also felt upset to see Alex looking very mad, scowling so deeply Rain wasn’t sure if the wrinkles would ever smooth over. But mostly Rain felt elated, they had been looking forward to the experience. Haley had finally stopped complaining, so that was nice too. 

“Thanks!” Rain was very happy. “I’ll see you guys later, I better go practice with Sebastian.” Insert speedy escape here. Honestly, the steps weren’t that hard, and after going through them a few times Rain was remembering it all. Unfortunately, there were steps that were different based on gender. That was annoying, but Rain decided to just do their own thing and sort of did parts of both of the routines. Nobody seemed too upset afterwards, and Sebastian and them had had a lot of fun. They exception to that statement was Alex, because he looked very frowny (and muscley) even after the dance had finished. Rain hoped that they hadn’t done anything too rude to Haley to offend Alex and break off their truce, but Haley had been very rude to Rain. Still confused as they made their way home, Rain made a note to themself to ask Alex about it the next time they saw him.

While Rain carefully folded their nice new outfit away and got ready for bed, they had a fleeting thought. Alex had seemed mostly fine with Rain until Sebastian had shown up. Maybe he was jealous? No, that wasn’t it, Rain was sure. Maybe Sebastian and Alex already didn’t like each other? That seemed much more plausible. Whatever it was, it bugged Rain, and they hoped that the tentative truce that they and Alex had reached wouldn’t come crashing down.


End file.
